Dozens of speakers warmed up the crowd at a campaign rally for Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump ahead of his own remarks at Madison Square Garden over the weekend, but none garnered the attention — or backlash — like comedian Tony Hinchcliffe.
Hinchcliffe’s set was roughly 12 minutes long and included jokes about Latino, Palestinian, Jewish and Black people that many have said are outright racist.
He began with a dig at Latinos, saying the United States’ borders are too open. Then, he made a crude joke about Puerto Rico.
“I don’t know if you guys know this, but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” he said.
It seemed like the jokes didn’t land well with the crowd at times, with Henchcliffe describing the audience as “groany,” stating, “Normally I don’t follow the National Anthem, everybody. This isn’t exactly the perfect comedy setup.”
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In a rare move, the Trump campaign distanced itself from Hinchcliffe’s comments about Puerto Rico during the rally. “This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” senior adviser Danielle Alvarez said in a statement the following day.
Hinchcliffe said he grew up in Ohio but recently moved to Texas after living in California — a state he criticized heavily during the rally — for many years.
He considers himself a master in the roasting style of comedy, in which the jokes focus on a single victim. Hinchcliffe has appeared on eight Comedy Central Roasts, including the notable one for NFL star Tom Brady. He started hosting an online course called “RoastMaster Class” which he monetizes through Patreon.
He has a podcast called “Kill Tony” and travels with podcaster Joe Rogan, who just released a three-hour interview with Trump last week.
Hinchcliffe also has a one-hour stand-up special on Netflix called "One Shot" that came out in 2016.
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According to The Associated Press, his Trump rally jokes aren’t the first to put him in hot water. He reportedly used a racial slur in 2021 about fellow comedian and Asian American Peng Dang during a gig in Austin, Texas. Hinchcliffe was dropped by his talent agency, WME, and several of his scheduled gigs were canceled, but he never apologized.
Responding to a post on X showing Democratic vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz criticizing his remarks, Hinchcliffe said, in part, “Wild that a vice presidential candidate would take time out of his ‘busy schedule’ to analyze a joke taken out of context to make it seem racist. I love Puerto Rico and vacation there.”
